28 Arrested in Violent Chicago Teen Mob

Chicago saw a wave of violent mob attacks against its residents last year, most often led by youth from the city’s poorer neighborhoods, and conducted in the city’s wealthier neighborhoods as the spring temperatures rose. Saturday, the warmest day of 2013, indicates the city may be heading in the same direction as 2012.

Hundreds of teens descended on Chicago’s Gold Coast and Magnificent Mile around 6:00 p.m. “purposely bumping into people” and fighting among themselves. The events later lead to 28 arrests, 25 of which were of minors, with charges ranging from battery to strong-armed robbery and reckless behavior.

A witness told CBS News Chicago:

“You had a group of teens, close to maybe 500. They assaulted a Chicago police officer that was on a mounted on a horse and all of a sudden they assaulted a citizen walking the streets, just a normal citizen shopping and enjoying the weather,” said Holmes.

A man was attacked around 10:45 p.m. while walking near Chicago and Dearborn. Sources tell us he was jumped and punched in the face by a group of teens. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

In a separate incident, a group of woman say they were attacked by a mob of girls on the CTA Red Line. The women reported a robbery once they got off the train at the State and Monroe station. Eleven females were arrested–10 juveniles and one adult–and charged with battery. Two of the teens were charged with strong-armed robbery.